Benton County Fire Marshall Will Hanna has been busy the past few days as cold weather brought an increase in house fires.
The fires include a mobile home fire on Lynn Lane in the Monte Ne area Sunday. The family was outside playing in the snow, Hanna said, when they noticed the fire and called the Highway 94 East Fire Department.
Hanna said the fire gutted the approximately 600-square-foot mobile home. The fire started in the home’s heating unit.
“Of the last four fires I’ve been to, all have been started by a heating unit of some type,” Hanna said.
The mobile home fire had somewhat of a happy ending, Hanna said. The home was a rental and the owner’s representative put the family in another nearby rental.
A turkey house on Hog Head Road near Maysville also burned Sunday. That fire was started by a heating element in the turkey house, Hanna said.
Another mobile home burned in the Hickory Creek area Saturday, Hanna said. The home was not occupied, but was being used for storage. A space heater started the fire, Hanna said.
Last week, what started as a flue fire ended up burning down a house in the Sulphur Springs area, Hanna said.
“It’s the time of the year when we’re all trying to keep warm and keep our pipes from freezing,” Hanna said. “Sometimes, we don’t do it right.”